


Abyss

by eviestevie



Category: RWBY
Genre: Multi, Tags are likely to change as it goes on
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-16
Updated: 2021-03-23
Packaged: 2021-03-24 21:14:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,957
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30078414
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eviestevie/pseuds/eviestevie
Summary: “Do not fall.”This was a message given by Ambrosius to Team RWBY before entering the strange dimension he created.Too bad they couldn’t follow his advice.
Relationships: Blake Belladonna/Yang Xiao Long, Lie Ren/Nora Valkyrie, some hints of emercury in there
Comments: 9
Kudos: 70





	1. Let’s go to Vacuo

**Author's Note:**

> This story is inspired by a post on tumblr from @eerriee talking about character pairings that could fall down the strange abyss together 
> 
> https://eerriee.tumblr.com/post/645629797373001728/if-they-are-about-to-be-separated-again-after

Apprehensive citizens walked along the long, golden pathways Ambrosius had created for their escape from Salem’s assault on the Kingdom of Atlas. The Happy Huntresses escorted them along the paths, guiding them to the entrance that would lead to Vacuo. There was mumbles, mostly from Atlas civilians, of complaints for why they couldn’t go to Vale or Mistral. But with Beacon still in shambles and Lionheart dead, there was no other option for them to go. Robyn and Qrow had reunited with teams RWBY, JNR, Oscar and Penny stood now around the portal that came from the Academy, awed by the strange dimension the Guardian of the Staff had created.

“Are we sure Vacuo can hold this many refugees?” Ruby asked nervously, watching the people carry what’s left of their belongings towards their hopefully temporary new home.

“Vale is sandwiched between mountains and the sea while Mistral has grown over the entirety of its mountain, Vacuo has nothing but space.” Oscar reassured, his voice slightly deeper and his eyes glowing, indicating that Ozpin was speaking. “Theodore is a kind man and Shade Academy has plenty of spare room. It’s not exactly the most popular Academy due to its location. However, Vacuans have a strong sense of community since their very survival depends on relying on each other.”

“I’m not sure the people of Atlas have that same enthusiasm.” Weiss said, her brows furrowed together with worry.

“At this point, they’re gonna have to learn.” Yang said.

“I will admit, Vacuo can be harsh to outsiders. But now, I think they’re willing to accept us in our time of need.” Ozpin said.

“I hope so.” Blake said, clutching her left arm in an anxious tic. “Cause we’re gonna need all the help we can get.”

They all joined the Happy Huntresses in aiding the evacuation, standing post at the platforms where there was more space, watching over the people to make sure no one slipped or peeked over the edge out of curiosity.

After all, Ambrosius made a very clear warning not to fall.

Blake and Yang stood on a platform together, watching as the amount of citizens entering the portal dwindle.

“Looks like this is the last few from the East side of Atlas.” Blake said.

“Yeah.” Yang muttered a reply.

Noticing her placidness, Blake approached and put her hand on her shoulder, the worry in her amber eyes indicating a clear question, Yang understood immediately.

“This just seems... a little too easy.” Yang said, looking over the wide plain of bridges.

Blake offered a smile. “At this point, I’ll take easy no matter how strange it may seem.”

Yang chuckled, clasping her metallic hand over Blake’s own. Blake’s ears drew back slightly and her face flushed red. “Yang... I—“

A loud rumble shook the bridges, citizens yelled in alarm as they almost lost their balance. Ruby used her semblance to travel across the edges and prevent anyone from falling, then she returned back to the main entrance to inspect the sound. She reached to draw her weapon—

BANG!

A burst of flames came through the portal, and with it emerged Cinder.

“I think it’s about time you and I had a little rematch from Beacon, Red!” Cinder snarled, launching a fireball straight at Ruby.

She quickly ducked out the way and flew up into the air, only for Cinder to charge at her and grab her by the collar of her cape.

“Ruby!” Qrow, Penny and Oscar all shouted, running down the path as fast as they could, followed by the rest of RWBY and JNR.

Ruby reached for her weapon again, but Cinder swiped it away with her Grimm arm, grinning as the young girl was now defenceless in her grasp.

“Now, what was it that annoying scorpion freak said?” Cinder muttered to herself as she tapped her chin, then she looked down at Ruby, her eye ignited in flames and the claws of her hand extending. “Ah yes... an eye for an eye.”

“NO!” Yang screamed.

A red glow suddenly appeared besides Ruby.

A portal.

Followed by a figure, swinging her blade straight at Cinder’s neck. Panicked, a burst of magic erupted, sending everyone close by backwards. Ruby had her eyes squeezed shut, and she felt a gentle grip on her shoulder, someone was holding her. She opened her eyes to see a very unexpected visitor.

“Raven?”

There she was, or knelt, holding Ruby in a protective grip, her blade crossed over them to keep her safe. Slowly, she got up, pulling Ruby to her feet and looking down at the stunned girl.

“You ok?” She asked.

“I, uhhh.” Ruby mumbled, still trying to process what just happened.

Another burst of flames appeared, and Cinder flew up onto the platform, her back to the entrance of the portal that lead to the Crater. Raven pushed Ruby behind her and pointed Omen at the Fall Maiden. Cinder only started to laugh.

“What’s this supposed to be? An act of redemption? You really think this will take back what you did at Haven?”

“No.” Raven replied. “It’s just the right thing to do. I’m not expecting forgiveness.”

Yang approached the platform, held onto Ruby and pulled her back from the beginning fight.

“You can’t fight here!” Yang warned. “You’ll destroy this place!”

“Dont plan to.” Raven replied, turning to the girls to offer a small smile. “It’s gonna be okay.”

“Ah yes, how noble. Choosing to sacrifice instead of thinking only for yourself above everyone else. Quite the change in character.” Cinder drawled, trying, and somewhat failing, to get a rise out of her.

“Yang, Ruby listen. Your dad, Glynda, Oobleck and Port are here. They’re defending the evacuating citizens that haven’t made it in here yet. They’ll be here soon to help you out.” Raven explained.

“Dad’s here?” Ruby asked.

“Wait!” Yang called. “Why are you doing this?”

“I—“

“Perhaps she feels guilty.” Cinder suggested. Raven stared her down coldly, her red gaze flaring with a deep, quiet rage. “Oh yes, I remember Salem said something about you, long before our deal at Mistral.”

“Shut. Up.” Raven growled between clenched teeth, the hand holding her blade beginning to shake.

“I’m guessing you two don’t know.” Cinder asked Yang and Ruby, then looked back at Raven. “About that day... the day you lost your precious Rose.”

Eyes igniting in red flames, Raven launched forwards, grabbed Cinder by the neck and disappeared through the portal to the Crater.

“Raven!” Yang yelled.

Another explosion is heard, the group looked over at another entrance to the bridges to see Watts holding several small bombs in his hand and Neo standing beside him with a devious smile.

//////////////////////////////////////////////////

Ash rained from the sky, the remains of Salem’s whale slowly decaying into the atmosphere, dripping off the edges of Atlas and falling into nothingness below. The walls of that creature was a prison. A suffocating, pulsing confinement that would leave one blind to the outside world. 

But, parts of that creature also performed as a shield from the explosion that took it.

A body. Weak and heavy, fell from a fleshy cell, gasping desperately for air they didn’t realise they were missing. Their mind was blurry, their memories filled with holes, a horrible Apathy wiped away all cognitive sense of time a long time ago. Or... was it a short while ago? They couldn’t tell. They tasted something vile. Something Grimm. Coughing and gagging, the strange substance left their throat, finally offering the freedom of a clear breath.

The person turned onto their back and finally opened their eyes, looking up into the sky to see the ashes of the fallen Grimm. But then, something cold landed on their face, something white and pure. With a gentle gasp and a sigh, the person muttered one word.

“Snow.”


	2. Falling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With Cinder, Watts and Neo instigating an attack on the evacuation, the risk of falling becomes an awful reality.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So uh.... I’d say after episode 13 that this is definitely now a canon divergence fic 😂
> 
> I’m fine 🙃 Yang is fine 🙃 they’ll be fine 🙃

Swords clashed as Raven and Cinder charged at one another, exchanging blow after blow fuelled with anger and a desperate need to win from both parties.

“I heard it was quite the spectacle when she battled Her Grace.” Cinder sneered. “I mean, Salem’s magic against a Silver Eyed Warrior? That must have been  _some_ power  to witness, right?”

“Shut it!” Raven yelled, sending a burst of ice to stop the Fall Maiden’s fire.

“That struck a nerve, huh? Good to know.”

//////////////////////////////////////////////////

“Get the people through now!” Robyn yelled to the Huntresses, pushing past civilians that ran for escape from Watts’ explosions. The bombs he had made were limited due to only being released from his cell for a short while, but they packed a punch, risking the destruction of the bridges. Neo stood by the scientist, watching the chaos take place. As much as she wanted to, Yang couldn’t smack that grin off her face just yet, the safety of the people came first. Therefore, the group focused on getting them through the portals and straight to Vacuo, something they were all now willing to do, zero complaints heard.

Meanwhile, Winter and Marrow rushed through, restraining an angry Jacques and quiet Ironwood through the portals. If she had the choice, she would have gladly left her father, only Weiss was willing to vouch for his life, Winter was surprised she cared at all with the messes he had made. Although, in many ways she was proud, Weiss was a merciful person, and she had grown into a wonderful Huntress. 

“Let the General go, Schnee!” A voice called.

Of course, like everything else, nothing would come easy. Winter turned to see Harriet, followed by a reluctant Vine and Elm, the former Ace Op scowled. 

“You can keep your bastard father, but I’m afraid I can’t let you take Ironwood.”

“Harriet, Ironwood isn’t trying to help anyone, you know that! You’re just denying it cause without him you have nothing to follow.” Marrow said, keeping a tight grip on the General’s arm.

“He’s right.” Winter added. “Atlas is a lost cause now—“

“Because of your sister and her little friends!” Harriet shouted.

Marrow retaliated, “They were trying to help the people in need; Mantle!”

“They got in the way of the General’s plan!”

“He wanted to abandon a city!”

“To save the Relic from Salem!”

“Stop it!” Elm suddenly yelled, grabbing Harriet’s arm to turn her around. “Marrow’s right! We don’t have time to fight each other, we need to help the evacuees!”

“And what? Just leave Atlas to Salem? Our home?”

“It’s either that or all of us perish.” Vine said, his voice cold with a building anger.

“Please, Hare... I know you can see how wrong this is. And I know you don’t really want to fight, you’re just acting tough cause you’re scared, like all of us.” Marrow said. “We can work together again. A real team.”

“No!” Harriet turned back to Marrow. “You are  _ not _ my teammate!”

“Harriet—“

“Tortuga was!” Harriet’s eyes welled with tears. “She was my friend! My partner! When she died I didn’t have time to grieve, I just had to move on. And all I got from it... was  _ you _ !”

The Ace Ops all stood shocked. Marrow started piecing it all together; Harriet was grieving, only Ironwood’s ideals forced her to push it down for who knows how long. Losing Clover, someone she considered a friend, was just the breaking point for years of repressed emotions bursting through the surface of Harriet’s mask. Despite the way she was acting, Marrow wanted to help. Even if she denied it, they were teammates, and Marrow had a belief that they should help one another when in need. Ironwood’s whole “keep a strong face” facade be damned. 

However, a rumbling sounded through the dimension, followed by the shrieks of Grimm. A Winged Beringel dived down towards Marrow. Panicked, he shoved Ironwood down the path and reached out his hand to click his fingers. Sparks of lightning flew past him, and suddenly the Beringel’s head was destroyed by Harriet’s fist. After dropping dead and fading into dust, Harriet turned back to the Ace Ops, her face still held anger, but it was calmer. 

A sign of cooperation.

//////////////////////////////////////////////////

Smoke rose through the air, tents and shelters in the Crater set alight in flames, metal cargo holds had large dents in them from the battle between the Maidens. Raven forced herself to stand, ignoring the feeling of blood dripping from her head, she would wipe it off if it wasn’t for her Grimm mask getting in the way.

Surprisingly, Raven chuckled. “You know the Maidens have control over  _ all _ the elements, right? It’s not all fire you crazy bitch.”

A yell, followed by more flames, Raven created a gust of wind and sent the fireball over her head, letting it blow up behind her.

“Okay, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

They clashed again, Cinder breathed fire from her mouth and sent it towards Raven’s face. She jumped back and fired more ice towards her head. Cinder flew up into the air and created a flaming spear. “Don’t act all high and mighty. Just cause you’ve changed your mind to stop being such a coward doesn’t take back anything.”

“I know it doesn’t.” Raven replied, shaking out her shoulders casually. “I’ve been giving it a lot of thought, and well... getting lectured by your own daughter can really change your perspective.”

Cinder threw the spear. A large crack echoed next to Raven’s ear, her Grimm mask broke and more blood trailed down her face. A deep cut just under her right eye, it was likely to scar. Raven scowled and charged at Cinder, swinging her sword straight towards her head. When she went to block, she took the opportunity to punch her in the gut. Cinder gasped at the sudden blow. Now thrown off, she was met with a rush of punches hitting her face and torso, with a final kick to the stomach sending her backwards into a pile of old crates.

“We’re no longer under a school like last time. So I don’t have to worry about going overboard.” Raven took off what remained of her mask, then with both hands holding the hilt of her sword, she stood strong. A refusal to back off. “You don’t mind if I beat the hell out of you, right?”

Cinder let out a loud snarl, Raven’s instigation clearly working. With a burst of magic she flew forwards, the impact of the hit created an explosion that bounced off the walls of the crater, shaking the ground with an intimidating power.

//////////////////////////////////////////////////

Grimm swarmed the escaping citizens, chasing them across the bridges or simply trying to pluck them off the ground and up into the air, only for them to lose their grip and let them fall towards the Abyss. Ruby flew around at top speed, picking up the falling people and bringing them straight to the exit that lead to Vacuo. Rescue was the priority at the moment, with Blake and Ren using their weapons to pull people back up, Nora had her hammer to move across the bridges and fight off Grimm, and Penny used her Maiden powers to create extra ledges made of ice to provide more room and fix the bridges Watts had destroyed with his hand bombs.

Qrow, Robyn and the Happy Huntresses fought off the Grimm and protected the entrance to Vacuo, as none of them had a semblance or weapon made for rescue. Jaune and Weiss stood on the largest platform in the centre of the strange dimension, sticking to defending all the people that ran past. Meanwhile, Yang stood near the portal that lead through to the Crater, defeating any Grimm that came in and checking constantly for any sign of a person. The sound of a chain firing alerted her to turn around, and she saw a Sabyr with its neck impaled by a green blade. 

Emerald.

“Was that Cinder?” She asked.

Yang’s fists clenched tightly. “Don’t tell me you’re going after her?”

“I’m not! It’s just—“

“I’ve been willing to give you a chance Emerald! Don’t ruin that now by going back to someone like her!” Yang warned, shooting another Grimm that came through.

“But what if she’s—“

“Hurt? Who cares? She’s trying to kill Ruby, and now that you’ve left, she’ll probably be after you too.”

“No, she wouldn’t!”

“Don’t give me that shit!” Yang yelled. “Cinder doesn’t care about you!”

Emerald froze. She had heard those words before, many times by now, by someone she missed dearly. Someone... she might actually get to see if she goes to Vacuo.

“I...”

Another explosion, this time from the Crater. A blur flung past Yang and Emerald and sprawled out on the floor, groaning in pain.

“Raven?” Yang called.

She struggled as she got up, the extent of her injuries were revealed as she did. A jagged claw mark went down the left side of her torso; a wound from Cinder’s Grimm arm. She pressed her hand to the wound and her eyes ignited in red flames, then ice covered the wound, stopping the bleeding and numbing the pain.

“Where’s Cinder?” Emerald asked.

“If I hit her hard enough, she should be on the other side of that Crater.” Raven replied, wincing at another pain in her left arm. The armoured brace she wore on her forearm was now gone, and the black sleeve underneath was slightly ripped, showing a horrible bruising across her skin. She concluded it was broken, due to the struggle to lift her hand.

“... Why did you do that?” Yang muttered, stunned by the breadth of Raven’s struggle.

“Ruby needed saving.” Raven replied. “And there’s no way in hell I’m letting that psycho get her way.”

That... was not the answer Yang wanted. She opened her mouth to speak again, maybe even yell, but the bridges shook and threw them to the floor.

Ruby stopped on a platform, exhausted from her efforts, and looked over to Watts and Neo in the distance, still throwing what remained of the bombs onto the bridges. The floor cracked and creaked under her feet. She quickly looked around to see if anymore people needed help, but instead she saw Oscar running towards her.

“We have to go!” He shouted, grabbing Ruby’s wrist and pulling her along, hoping to bring her to where Qrow was guarding. With her energy spent and her Aura low, Ruby found it hard to keep up.

“Ruby!”

She turned to whoever was calling her.

“Dad?!”

Tai stood at the entrance of a portal, followed by Glynda, Port and Oobleck. His eyes lit up at the sight of his daughter, they both started to approach the other.

CRACK!

A large splinter broke through the bridge, the pieces fell down and a gap was created between them.

“No, no!” Tai yelled, reaching out with his hand. The bridge continued to fall apart.

“Dad, no! Get away, you’ll fall!” Ruby warned, stepping away as it broke apart, Oscar returning to her side to pull her back.

“Ruby!” Penny yelled from another platform, she began to take flight to try and help, but was tugged back by Nora as a bomb went off just a few feet in front of them.

“Nora!” Ren shouted. The bridge broke from under his feet and he fell. Blake dived down and grabbed his hand, she then threw Gambol Shroud upwards to hook back onto the bridge that was slowly collapsing.

The pieces of the bridges and platforms that fell disappeared into the dark Abyss, all the while Watts watched with a smile. “I think our job is done. Not sure if we can say the same for our Maiden.” He grinned whilst Neo shrugged, following him through the portal into Atlas.

A few more explosions from planted bombs went off, and the bridges the group was on all started to fall.

“Tai!” Raven yelled as she dropped. “Stay there! I need you for an entrance point!”

”But—“

”Trust me!”

With that, they fell. 

Ambrosius’ warning was heard, but unfortunately couldn’t be followed.


	3. Waking up Separated

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group are now sit apart in an unknown domain. Some are happy with the people they’re stuck with, and some... are not exactly jovial.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can write I swear college is just frying my brain 😂

Their aching limbs trembled as they got to their feet. Inhaling the ash of Grimm left floating in the air, mixing with the gentle snow. A stark contrast of whites and blacks rained from the sky, leaving an almost melancholic joy of finally being free, but to awaken to an even more broken world. They raised their hand to their face, tracing their fingers along the scar that went across their left eye, an ancient wound inflicted by  _ her _ . At least they could still see out of it.

She wasn’t gone, not yet, nothing could kill her after all. They walked slowly, limping along the battlefield, pressing their weight into what remained of their weapon, the bottom of the pole had been snapped, the blade at the top was cracked and they had no bullets, certainly not in fighting condition. Their pace was agonising, it felt like centuries until the distant view of a city shined through the smoke and dust. 

“Atlas.” They murmured.

They continued to stagger towards civilisation, the chance of seeing life their only motivation to move against the screaming protests of their pained body. They looked around the carcass of the fading Grimm as they went, and their heart stilled with horror at the sight of a revolting black tar spilt across the ground.  _ Her _ .

It wouldn’t be long until she put herself back together. Adrenaline spiked their veins and they stumbled away as fast as their legs could carry them. They couldn’t repeat it, fighting  her ... she couldn’t go through that suffering again.

Not after all the time she had now lost.

//////////////////////////////////////////////////

When Yang woke up, she was met with a dull pain radiating throughout her body. Her eyes crept open and she gazed up into the endless, dark ceiling of the Abyss. The bridges were nowhere in sight, by the gods how far did she fall? She sat up with a groan and looked around, Emerald was also getting up, and she turned to her left to see Raven sitting cross legged on the floor.

The Maiden slowly took off the black sleeve from her left forearm, revealing the bruised flesh that went from her wrist to just a few inches from her elbow. Definitely broken, not too severe, but enough to say her limb would be out of commission for a while. She put the sleeve between her teeth and pulled, ripping the stretchy fabric into a long strip to then tie the ends together and wrapped it around her neck, acting as a temporary sling for her numbing arm. Then, with a final grunt of pain, she got to her feet and looked up into the nothingness, huffing slightly as blood dripped off her face and she grasped her injured side with her right hand.

“Tai better stay up there. He’s probably our only way out with my semblance.” She muttered, turning to the younger girls.

Yang scanned her over then sighed, getting to her feet and dusting off her clothes. “You won’t be able to make a portal looking like that.”

“What do you suggest then?”

Yang hated how calm she sounded, how  _ cooperative _ she was being. “... We’ll have to find Jaune. He can help heal you, then we find the others and get the hell out of...  _ wherever _ this place is.” She gestured vaguely.

“What makes you think we can find  _ anyone _ here?” Emerald asked, throwing up her hands. “The platforms we were on weren’t that far apart, and yet there’s no one here but us. That’s not how falling works.”

“We’ll find them.” Raven said. “They’re definitely down here, I can sense it.”

Yang tensed up, her brow furrowing. “You can sense Ruby.”

“... Yes.”

“You have a portal to her.”

Raven said nothing.

“Why?” Yang demanded, taking a few steps towards her.

The Maiden took a deep breath. “Believe it or not, but I actually spent some time with both of you when you were first born. I actually tried to visit or watch over you two whenever I had the chance.”

Yang could only scoff. “You’re right, I don’t believe that.”

“I don’t expect you to.” Raven replied, turning and walking in what appeared to be an aimless direction.

Not seeing any other option, Emerald followed, looking back at an angry Yang, waving her hand for her to join. Yang gritted her teeth and eventually went after them, deciding to keep a distance from both of them, she’d much rather walk on her own.

//////////////////////////////////////////////////

“... by? ... Ruby get up, please!”

A muffled voice rang through her head, pulling her back to the present and out of her hazed mind. When she opened her eyes, she was met with a pair of hazel ones looking down at her worryingly.

“Oscar?”

“Hey! You’re awake!” Oscar smiled, his eyes bright with relief. He was knelt on the floor and supporting Ruby’s head with his hands, probably concerned that she may have damaged her neck from the fall. Ruby appreciated the gesture and sat up carefully.

“Where... are we?” Ruby’s asked.

Suddenly, Oscar’s eyes began to glow and a deeper voice took over. “The one place Ambrosius warned us never to be I’m afraid.”

Ruby groaned. “We fell?”

“We all fell.”

“... Everyone?”

“Yes, Miss Rose, we did. But, not to worry, we can all find each other and then we’ll figure a way out.” He offered his hand, she took it and stood up. The glow then faded from Oscar’s eyes. “I just hope the others aren’t too far.”

Ruby’s brow weighed with concern. But, she put on a smile and gave a reassuring nod, turning towards the darkness and walking towards it with Oscar following close by.

//////////////////////////////////////////////////

“Thank goodness that Summon of yours broke our fall.” Jaune sighed as he slipped off the glowing blue Nevermore, tripping slightly as his feet touched the ground. “Come to think of it, have you ever killed a Nevermore?”

Weiss shook her head. “Not on my own. The first Nevermore I took was the one in the Emerald Forest back at Beacon”

“But... that was a team effort, right?” Jaune’s face then lit up. “Weiss, I think your semblance is evolving!”

Weiss’ brow shot up in surprise, she copied his smile. “You really think so?”

“Yeah! How else would you have summoned that thing?”

Pride swelled in Weiss’ chest. “The Schnee family has never had this before. Usually, you could only summon something you took down on your own.”

“Well, that makes you the first!” Jaune threw up his hands in joy. “Oh, that’s gonna be  so useful!”

“I hope so.” Weiss said. “I’ll be willing to summon  _ anything _ to get us and the group out of here... whenever we find them.”

//////////////////////////////////////////////////

“Well, that was... quite a drop.” Blake groaned as she stood up. “You okay?”

Ren looked around the open plain, his eyes wide with worry. She was just a few platforms away when they dropped, she couldn’t even far, so where was she? What happened when Watts’ bomb went off in front of them? “I... can’t sense anyone.”

Fear built in Blake’s stomach, but she pushed it off, they couldn’t give up now. She put a hand on his shoulder. “Hey, don’t worry. You’re probably just out of range, we’ll get there.”

Ren sighed and then his body relaxed slightly, Blake’s words were certainly reassuring. “Right... yeah, you’re right.”

They pushed forwards, heading further into the endless dimension.

//////////////////////////////////////////////////

“Are you alright, Nora?”

“Yeah, yeah I’m okay, Penny.” Nora replied as she dusted the smoke off of her clothes. 

“You did not have to defend me from the bomb, you know. You could have gotten seriously hurt.” Penny said.

“Ehhh, I like to think I’m tougher than that.” Nora smiled. “You should be worrying more about yourself, having a new body and all. How you holding up?”

“I think I am alright.” Penny said, giving herself a once over.

Before the chaos began, the Happy Huntresses were kind enough to let Penny go through their supplies and look for a pair of shoes. She ended up landing on a thick pair of black stockings that went half way up her thighs, accompanied by a white shoe with an olive green sole and a gold button to clasp the straps around her ankles. Overall, a very Penny look.

“I’m surprised we don’t have much more other than some bumps and bruises from a fall like that.” Nora commented.

“Perhaps it is because of this dimension?” Penny pointed out. “For all we know, it does not follow the natural laws of Remnant, therefore large falls such as the one we just experienced did not do as much damage as one from our world.”

“Uh, I don’t know Penny.” Nora said, rubbing the back of her neck. “The Relics are already complicated enough, I’d just chalk it down to magic saving our asses.”

“Yes, magic works in mysterious ways.”

Nora smiled at her, then looked around where they stood. “Do you think the others fell? There’s no one here but us.”

“I saw the bridge Ruby was on breaking before that explosion.” Penny said, following Nora’s gaze around the Abyss. “If anyone is down here, we need to look for them.”

“And then what?”

“I could fly us all back up!” Penny grinned. “I may not be robotic anymore, but I am still capable of flight.” She gave a salute.

“Good idea.” Nora said as they started walking. “And it’s probably the only one we have right now, so we’ll roll with it.”

The two of them continued onwards, with Nora listening to Penny’s rambles and fascinations with the strange new world, allowing her to discuss the theories of how the gravity worked as her extensive knowledge gave her something to talk about as they journeyed on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The duos are now set up! Or... I guess 4 duos and 1 trio 😂


End file.
